Brazilian companies need to register for receiving electronic service of process, summons and subpoenas within a 90-day deadline

In brief

Companies will be required to register with the Brazilian National Council of Justice – CNJ – (governmental entity that controls and aims to improve the Brazilian Judiciary) an e-mail for the purpose of receiving service of process, court summons and subpoenas in general.

In this sense, CNJ Resolution No. 455 of 04/27/2022 obliges companies to register / update their address data in the CNJ system within 90 days.

Justice 4.0 – the Brazilian policy for a digital Judiciary

Within the scope of the Justice 4.0 Program, CNJ has been gradually implementing the Electronic Judicial Domicile, an e-mail address provided by companies and individuals, to be duly registered with CNJ, and that will be used for the service of process, court summons and subpoenas in general. CNJ has also been implementing the Digital Platform of the Brazilian Judiciary, whose main scope is to encourage collaboration between courts of different States, consolidating a public policy for the expansion of the Electronic Judicial Proceedings.

Back in April 2022, CNJ had already issued the Resolution No. 455 of 04/27/2022, which determines that companies would have a 90 days deadline to enter or update its e-mail registered with CNJ, once the system is properly available. CNJ will soon release the chronogram for the activation of the Electronic Judicial Domicile and the Digital Platform of the Brazilian Judiciary website, what will trigger the 90-day deadline for public and private institutions and companies to register their addresses*.

Penalties

It is important to emphasize that the registration and updating of data, including the electronic address for receiving service of process, summons and subpoenas, is mandatory for all companies, exception made to small companies that have an electronic address registered in the integrated system of the National Network for the Simplification of Registration and Legalization of Companies and Businesses.
The non-compliance with this rule may expose companies to penalties in lawsuits. Judges can impose fines of up to 5% (five percent) of the amounts ascribed to the case, for contempt of court, if service of process can’t be confirmed due to the absence of an updated e-mail address (articles 77, V, and 246, §1º and §1º-C, of the Brazilian Procedural Code).

Trench Rossi Watanabe will keep updated on this issue and remains available to give assistance to its customers in this important stage of the Justice 4.0 Program implementation.

* The Implementation Schedule available on the CNJ website was updated on September 30, 2022, to exclude the information about the start date for registration by banks associated with the Brazilian Federation of Banks – Febraban. The website now informs that “The new system implementation schedule will be announced soon”.